Grand Island 7-Eleven reportedly set to close

Staff reports

Grand Island’s South End is about to lose a longtime community retail outlet.

The 7-Eleven store, at 1787 Love Road on Grand Island, is scheduled to close May 6, according to published reports. It is among the more than 600 locations set to close during this year.

The Island Dispatch spoke to a store employee who confirmed the closing date and said the vendor deliveries ended about three weeks ago. The employee also said the remaining staff of about eight would likely be transferred to other 7-Eleven area stores.

The Grand Island store was listed with 30 other store closings closing soon across the country. No other Western New York stores were on the list, according to the report.

On Tuesday, stocks were low for several staple goods. There were clearance tables with discounted items such as snacks and seasonal goods, a visit by Niagara Frontier Publications (NFP) confirmed.

NFP reached out to 7-Eleven’s corporate media office, as well as to the Grand Island store manager, but received no reply before press time.

Parent company Seven & i Holdings Inc. – a Japanese retail conglomerate – has said it will be closing 645 of the 7-Eleven locations across North America in the 2026 fiscal year, according to industry sources.

The fiscal year, between March 1 and Feb. 28, 2027, will see the company’s store footprint shrink for the fifth year in a row, according to Inc. Newsletters, a selection of business-focused newsletters.

The 7-Eleven sign at the edge of the parking lot. (Photo by Karen Carr Keefe)

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While 7-Eleven uses a franchise model, the Grand Island location is part of the corporate-owned network. The store was part of the Wilson Farms chain until its purchase in 2011.

The store closures are an attempt to reduce costs and increase profitability for the chain of convenience stores ahead of a U.S. initial public offering for its North American unit, which was recently delayed, Inc. Newsletters reported.

The business newsletter added that, during the same period, 205 new 7-Eleven locations are set to open, meaning a net loss of 440 of the convenience stores is expected.

That report said the closures represent about a 5% reduction in the company’s current footprint of 12,272 North American locations,

Another source, Fast Company Newsletter, added the company said some of the closing locations won’t be shuttered entirely.

Many 7-Eleven locations in North America sell both gas at the pump and food inside the convenience store. Locations that don’t have an operating convenience store and only sell gas are known as wholesale fuel stores.

Fast Company Newsletter reports that “some locations will close their convenience store segment, but continue to operate as gas stations. However, the locations that undergo a transition to wholesale fuel stores, only, will no longer count as part of the chain’s total footprint, hence a wholesale fuel stores conversion counts as a closure.”